There were 54 entrants at the Horsham Spinners 2 Star held at Collyers College, Horsham on 3rd July.

Bertie Kelly (So), Brandon Sangchin (Mi), Shae Thakker (Bu) and Ollie Maric-Murray (Sy) all did well to win two medals each, but no player won both of their age groups.

German visitor Tim Franke made light of his unseeded status to win the U18 event.

Under-11

The U11s consisted of two groups of four players. There was a shock defeat for No 1 seed Maric-Murray in the group to James Henry (Mi) 11-4, 11-6, 11-7, who is almost 200 ranking points below Maric-Murray. Group 2 was won by second seed Sangchin with ease.

In the semi-finals Henry defeated club-mate Charlie Nabarro (Mi) 11-6 in the deciding set, while Sangchin knocked out Maric-Murray in straight sets.

The final was a straightforward win for Sangchin, who had won all of his matches 3-0. Maric-Murray won the battle for the bronze medal in a five-setter with Nabarro. Larry Trumpauskas (Mi) won the consolation event final in the fifth set over Abbie Hurley (K).

Under-12

There were two groups of four and two groups of three in this age group, after two players dropped out on the day. There were no major upsets at the group stage.

In the quarters, top seed Kelly beat Millie Rogove (He) 3-0, third seed Sangchin defeated Noah Featherstone-Csillag (K) 3-0, fourth seed Zach Hodges (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) overcame Henry Maric-Murray (Sy) 11-8 in the fifth and second seed Ollie Maric-Murray got his own back on James Henry, winning 3-1 this time.

In the semis, Kelly came through vs Sangchin in three close games (12-10, 13-11, 11-9), while Maric-Murray got past Hodges in four ends. In the final Maric-Murray won the first game, but Kelly came back to win 3-1, the last two games being 13-11, 12-10. Sangchin triumphed in four over Hodges for the bronze medal.

Ben Anthony (Sx-Warden Park TTC) beat Hayden Jannels (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) 3-1 in the consolation final.

Under-13

There were four groups of four and one group of three in this category. There was only one upset at the group stage. This was Alessio Marrocco (Sx-Brighton City TTC) beating No 4 seed, Ollie Michell (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) in five games.

In the quarters, Thakker beat Michell in three sets, Jacob Evans (Sx-Horsham TTC) had a good win over third seed, Angus Norman (Sy) in five, Marrocco overcame Rogove in five and Kelly got past Ed Cozens (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) in four.

In the semis, Thakker dispatched Evans 3-0 and Kelly came through 3-1 vs Marrocco. In the final Kelly struck first, with an 11-8 first set win, but Thakker regrouped and took the next three ends. Evans got the bronze medal by default, as Marrocco had already left without playing the bronze medal match.

Sam Watts (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) won the consolation event, with a 3-1 win over Dylan Tailor.

Under-14

There were three groups of four in this age group. The No 1 seed, Charlie Graham-Adams (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC) was toppled in his group, despite a very good morning showing, losing in four to Ben Palmer-Jones (Mi).

Palmer-Jones lost to Sacha Chowdhury (Mi), but progressed as group winner in a two-way countback with Graham-Adams, as he had beaten him. There was a minor upset in Group 2, as Evans had a very good win over Will Michell (Sx-Horsham Spinners TTC), who had also done very well in the morning. Michell was still smarting from a loss in the U15s & lost 10-12, 11-13, 11-4, 11-9, 10-12.

Third seed, Jamie Blair had a tough group and lost two matches to Louie Rogove (He) and David Ismaili (Mi) both in the fifth set. Indeed he only beat Cozens 12-10, 11-9, 11-9. Rogove won the group, with Ismaili the runner-up.

There were two quarter-finals, in which Ismaili knocked out Evans 3-1 and Rogove ended Graham-Adams chances also 3-1. In the semis, Palmer-Jones beat club-mate Ismaili in straight sets and Rogove knocked out second seed, Thakker in four.

The final was close, as Rogove started stronger claiming the first two games, but was pegged back to the fifth set with two ‘deuce’ games, but won 11-6 in the decider. Thakker won comfortably in the third/fourth place play-off. Michell had to work in the final of the consolation to overcome Norman 11-9 in the fifth.

Under-15

There were four groups of four in the U15s. Top seed, Ali Malloch (Do) lost 3-0 in the group to Louis Rogove, who had a great day overall. In Group 3 Blair, the No 3 seed again, did win his group, but only just, beating Will Michell & Chowdhury both in five sets. Michell got second place in the group.

Fourth seed, Jared Schaller (Ha), who had recently changed from his usual long pimples on one side to smooth rubbers both sides, experienced a not too surprising dip in form and here lost to both Will Jolliffe (Do) in five sets and to Palmer-Jones in straight sets.

In the quarter-finals Evan Delage (Mi) stopped Rogove from advancing in five sets, Michell scraped a victory over Palmer-Jones 12-10 in the fifth, Jolliffe beat club-mate Blair in four and second seed, Graham-Adams got a first win over the higher ranked Malloch in four.

In the semis, Michell came from two games to one down to knock out Delage and Graham-Adams won a close four-setter vs Jolliffe. Now Michell had beaten team-mate Graham-Adams at on least the previous five meetings, but not on this occasion, as Graham-Adams won convincingly, stopping Will from winning a first 2 Star Gold Medal.

Jolliffe won the third place match 11-5 in the fifth. Ismaili beat Schaller in the final of the consolation event 3-1.

Under-18

This had the same number of players and groups as the U15s. Tim Franke (Germany) over to see family and friends was unseeded, but made his intentions very clear in his first match, as he overcame the highly ranked top seed, Ben Naylor-Smith (Bu) in five sets as onlookers watched. He won his other group games 3-0. Naylor-Smith’s day worsened as he lost out 3-1 to Charlie Hough (Sx-Warden Park TTC), which is a maximum loss.

In Group 4, fourth seed Schaller continued to struggle with his reverse rubbers, losing to both Matt Johnson (Sx-Brighton City TTC) and Mohammed Raqueeb (E), meaning two of the four seeds ended up in the consolation event.

In the quarters, Franke beat Jolliffe 3-0, Billy Keegan (Sx-Brighton City TTC) beat team-mate Johnson 3-2, Malloch beat Raqueeb 23-21 in the fourth and Guile beat Hough 3-0.

In the semis, Franke brushed Keegan aside 3-0 and second seed, Ollie Guile (Sx-Brighton City TTC) won in the deciding end vs Malloch. In the final Guile drew first blood 11-9 and had chances to go 2-0 up in games, but let it slip 10-12. Then Franke upped the anti winning 11-4, 11-8.

Malloch beat Keegan in four in the bronze medal match. As one would expect, Naylor-Smith won the consolation, beating Delage in the final 3-0, but he had been 2-1 down in the semis to Schaller.

Summary of results

U11
Main: Brandon Sangchin (Mi) beat James Henry (Mi) 11-7, 11-7, 11-6
Consolation: Larry Trumpauskas (Mi) beat Abbie Hurley (K) 11-5, 3-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7

U12
Main: Bertie Kelly (So) beat Ollie Maric-Murray (Sy) 6-11, 11-5, 13-11, 12-10
Consolation: Ben Anthony (Sx) beat Hayden Jannels (Sx) 12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 11-3

U13s
Main: Shae Thakker (Bu) beat Bertie Kelly (So) 8-11, 11-2, 11-9, 11-8
Consolation: Sam Watts (Sx) beat Dylan Tailor (Mi) 8-11, 11-8, 11-1, 11-7

U14
Main: Louis Rogove (Mi) beat Ben Palmer-Jones (Mi) 11-5, 11-7, 12-14, 10-12, 11-6
Consolation: Will Michell (Sx) beat Angus Norman (Sy) 4-11, 11-2, 11-13, 11-7, 11-9

U15
Main: Charlie Graham-Adams (Sx) beat Will Michell (Sx) 11-6, 11-8, 11-5
Consolation: David Ismaili (Mi) beat Jared Schaller (Do) 3-11, 14-12, 18-16, 11-5

U18
Main: Tim Franke (GER) beat Ollie Guile (Sx) 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-8
Consolation: Ben Naylor-Smith (Bu) beat Evan Delage (Mi) 11-6, 11-9, 11-8